Microsoft is publishing a relatively light 54 new vulnerabilities this December 2025 Patch Tuesday, which is significantly lower than we have come to expect over the past couple of years. Today’s list includes two publicly disclosed remote code vulnerabilities, and a single exploited-in-the-wild vulnerability. Three critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities are also patched today; Microsoft currently assesses those as less likely or even unlikely to see exploitation. During December, Microsoft has already patched 14 browser vulnerabilities and more than 80 vulnerabilities in open source products, which are not included in the Patch Tuesday count above.
Windows Cloud Files minifilter: zero-day EoP
Microsoft has evidence that attackers are already making full use of CVE-2025-62221, a zero-day local elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerability in the Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver leading to SYSTEM privileges. File system filter drivers, aka minifilters, attach to the system software stack, and intercept requests targeted at a file system, and extend or replace the functionality provided by the original target. Typical use cases include data encryption, automated backup, on-the-fly compression, and cloud storage.
The Cloud Files minifilter is used by OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud, and others, although as a core Windows component, it would still be present on a system where none of those apps were installed. Microsoft ranks CVE-2025-62221 as important rather than critical, since an attacker would need to have an existing foothold on the target system, but since it’s already exploited in the wild and leads to SYSTEM privileges, all but the most optimistic blue team threat models will surely treat CVE-2025-62221 as a top priority for remediation.
PowerShell: zero-day RCE
Under normal circumstances, PowerShell does a decent job of looking out for the unwary end user, and will wait for confirmation or even outright block unexpected attempts to run code from the internet that isn’t signed by a trusted publisher. Windows Mark-of-the-Web (MotW) functionality tracks files that were downloaded from the internet, but CVE-2025-54100 is a zero-day vulnerability which allows attackers to sidestep security controls that rely on MotW by the simple expedient of relying on code execution before the file is ever written. Microsoft is aware of public disclosure.
The Windows security updates published today address CVE-2025-54100 by altering the default functionality of Invoke-WebRequest in PowerShell 5.1 so that it will prompt the user, instead of simply executing potentially malicious code as it processes the full Document Object Model of the requested remote resource. Scripts that rely on the impacted functionality may hang indefinitely when encountering the new prompt, unless updated to pass the -UseBasicParsing parameter to Invoke-WebRequest, since this explicitly avoids the potential for script execution. PowerShell 7 avoids all of this by moving beyond dependency on the legacy MSHTML/Trident engine, which used to power Internet Explorer. However, PowerShell 5.1 is what’s installed by default with a fresh Windows installation, even for Server 2025 and Windows 11 25H2, because Microsoft has a hard time telling enterprise customers that continuing support for legacy business applications comes with an ever-increasing security cost.
Copilot: zero-day
The GitHub Copilot for Jetbrains plugin promises users that they can take control of their code using Copilot Edit Mode. Unfortunately, an attacker exploiting CVE-2025-64671 will be aiming to do something very similar. Microsoft is aware of public disclosure. In this scenario, cross-prompt injection, where an attacker hides malicious instructions inside a malicious file or within MCP server data, can lead to arbitrary command execution, where unsafe commands sneak past security boundaries while appended to safe, allowlisted commands. This issue is by no means specific to Copilot or Jetbrains; as the original researcher points out, this is an example of an entire class of vulnerabilities, where the addition of agentic AI to an IDE extends and alters the attack surface. Other well-known IDE vendors have assigned CVEs and/or published patches for broadly similar issues.
Office: two critical no-click RCEs
Microsoft Office is widely deployed, and it’s a rare Patch Tuesday when it doesn’t receive at least a few security updates. Two Office RCEs are particularly noteworthy this month. The advisory FAQs for both CVE-2025-62554 and CVE-2025-62557 mention that the Preview Pane is a vector, so a user who scrolls past a malicious email in Outlook or a sketchy file in Explorer could trigger exploitation without doing anything obviously wrong. However, it gets worse, because even receiving a specially-crafted email could trigger exploitation, without any requirement that the user open, read, or click on the malicious link within it. CVE-2023-23397, a widely-discussed critical Outlook vulnerability from some two-and-a-half years ago shares these characteristics. In that case, Microsoft detected in-the-wild exploitation by a Russia-based threat actor targeting government, military, and critical infrastructure targets in Europe. While there’s no suggestion that either of the vulnerabilities patched today necessarily result in NTLM hash disclosure in the same vein as CVE-2023-23397, the potential for exploitation without the need for any user interaction is a serious concern.
Microsoft lifecycle update
There are no significant Microsoft product lifecycle changes this month. Visual Studio 2022 LTSC 17.10 will reach end of life in January.
Summary charts
Summary tables
Azure vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
Azure Monitor Agent Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 8.8 |
Browser vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) for Mac Spoofing Vulnerability | No | No | 4.3 | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13721 Race in v8 | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13720 Bad cast in Loader | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13640 Inappropriate implementation in Passwords | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13639 Inappropriate implementation in WebRTC | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13638 Use after free in Media Stream | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13637 Inappropriate implementation in Downloads | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13636 Inappropriate implementation in Split View | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13635 Inappropriate implementation in Downloads | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13634 Inappropriate implementation in Downloads | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13633 Use after free in Digital Credentials | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13632 Inappropriate implementation in DevTools | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13631 Inappropriate implementation in Google Updater | No | No | N/A | |
Chromium: CVE-2025-13630 Type Confusion in V8 | No | No | N/A |
Mariner vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
Untrusted search path in auth_query connection in PgBouncer | No | No | 7.5 | |
Apache HTTP Server: NTLM Leakage on Windows through UNC SSRF | No | No | 7.5 | |
Apache HTTP Server: CGI environment variable override | No | No | 6.5 | |
Apache HTTP Server: mod_userdir+suexec bypass via AllowOverride FileInfo | No | No | 5.4 |
Microsoft Office vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
Microsoft SharePoint Server Spoofing Vulnerability | No | No | 8.8 | |
Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 8.4 | |
Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 8.4 | |
Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Outlook Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Access Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7 |
Open Source Software vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
hfsplus: fix KMSAN uninit-value issue in __hfsplus_ext_cache_extent() | No | No | 9.8 | |
gfs2: Fix unlikely race in gdlm_put_lock | No | No | 9.8 | |
devlink: rate: Unset parent pointer in devl_rate_nodes_destroy | No | No | 9.8 | |
Input: imx_sc_key - fix memory corruption on unload | No | No | 9.8 | |
sctp: avoid NULL dereference when chunk data buffer is missing | No | No | 8.6 | |
usb: cdns3: gadget: Use-after-free during failed initialization and exit of cdnsp gadget | No | No | 7.8 | |
most: usb: Fix use-after-free in hdm_disconnect | No | No | 7.8 | |
mm/secretmem: fix use-after-free race in fault handler | No | No | 7.8 | |
bpf: Sync pending IRQ work before freeing ring buffer | No | No | 7.8 | |
Vim for Windows Uncontrolled Search Path Element Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
drm/vmwgfx: Validate command header size against SVGA_CMD_MAX_DATASIZE | No | No | 7.3 | |
x86: fix clear_user_rep_good() exception handling annotation | No | No | 7.1 | |
ocfs2: clear extent cache after moving/defragmenting extents | No | No | 7.1 | |
jfs: Verify inode mode when loading from disk | No | No | 7.1 | |
fbdev: bitblit: bound-check glyph index in bit_putcs* | No | No | 7.1 | |
KVM: arm64: Check the untrusted offset in FF-A memory share | No | No | 7.1 | |
Bluetooth: hci_event: validate skb length for unknown CC opcode | No | No | 7.1 | |
Bluetooth: btusb: reorder cleanup in btusb_disconnect to avoid UAF | No | No | 7.1 | |
virtio-net: fix received length check in big packets | No | No | 7 | |
tipc: Fix use-after-free in tipc_mon_reinit_self(). | No | No | 7 | |
sctp: prevent possible shift-out-of-bounds in sctp_transport_update_rto | No | No | 7 | |
net: bridge: fix use-after-free due to MST port state bypass | No | No | 7 | |
mptcp: fix race condition in mptcp_schedule_work() | No | No | 7 | |
NFSD: free copynotify stateid in nfs4_free_ol_stateid() | No | No | 7 | |
9p/trans_fd: p9_fd_request: kick rx thread if EPOLLIN | No | No | 7 | |
nvme: nvme-fc: Ensure ->ioerr_work is cancelled in nvme_fc_delete_ctrl() | No | No | 6.6 | |
hfs: fix KMSAN uninit-value issue in hfs_find_set_zero_bits() | No | No | 6.6 | |
wifi: brcmfmac: fix crash while sending Action Frames in standalone AP Mode | No | No | 6.5 | |
vsock: Ignore signal/timeout on connect() if already established | No | No | 6.3 | |
mptcp: fix a race in mptcp_pm_del_add_timer() | No | No | 6.3 | |
scsi: sg: Do not sleep in atomic context | No | No | 6.2 | |
net: qlogic/qede: fix potential out-of-bounds read in qede_tpa_cont() and qede_tpa_end() | No | No | 6.1 | |
xfrm: delete x->tunnel as we delete x | No | No | 5.5 | |
usb: gadget: f_fs: Fix epfile null pointer access after ep enable. | No | No | 5.5 | |
smb/server: fix possible refcount leak in smb2_sess_setup() | No | No | 5.5 | |
smb/server: fix possible memory leak in smb2_read() | No | No | 5.5 | |
s390/ctcm: Fix double-kfree | No | No | 5.5 | |
regmap: slimbus: fix bus_context pointer in regmap init calls | No | No | 5.5 | |
pidfs: validate extensible ioctls | No | No | 5.5 | |
orangefs: fix xattr related buffer overflow... | No | No | 5.5 | |
ntfs3: pretend $Extend records as regular files | No | No | 5.5 | |
nios2: ensure that memblock.current_limit is set when setting pfn limits | No | No | 5.5 | |
net: sched: act_ife: initialize struct tc_ife to fix KMSAN kernel-infoleak | No | No | 5.5 | |
net: sched: act_connmark: initialize struct tc_ife to fix kernel leak | No | No | 5.5 | |
net: openvswitch: remove never-working support for setting nsh fields | No | No | 5.5 | |
net/mlx5: Clean up only new IRQ glue on request_irq() failure | No | No | 5.5 | |
iommufd: Don't overflow during division for dirty tracking | No | No | 5.5 | |
fuse: fix livelock in synchronous file put from fuseblk workers | No | No | 5.5 | |
fbdev: Add bounds checking in bit_putcs to fix vmalloc-out-of-bounds | No | No | 5.5 | |
fbcon: Set fb_display->mode to NULL when the mode is released | No | No | 5.5 | |
exfat: validate cluster allocation bits of the allocation bitmap | No | No | 5.5 | |
exfat: fix improper check of dentry.stream.valid_size | No | No | 5.5 | |
drm/msm: Fix pgtable prealloc error path | No | No | 5.5 | |
drm/amdgpu: hide VRAM sysfs attributes on GPUs without VRAM | No | No | 5.5 | |
cifs: client: fix memory leak in smb3_fs_context_parse_param | No | No | 5.5 | |
btrfs: ensure no dirty metadata is written back for an fs with errors | No | No | 5.5 | |
be2net: pass wrb_params in case of OS2BMC | No | No | 5.5 | |
amd/amdkfd: resolve a race in amdgpu_amdkfd_device_fini_sw | No | No | 5.5 | |
accel/habanalabs: support mapping cb with vmalloc-backed coherent memory | No | No | 5.5 | |
PCI/IOV: Add PCI rescan-remove locking when enabling/disabling SR-IOV | No | No | 5.5 | |
NFSD: Fix crash in nfsd4_read_release() | No | No | 5.5 | |
Input: cros_ec_keyb - fix an invalid memory access | No | No | 5.5 | |
Bluetooth: bcsp: receive data only if registered | No | No | 5.5 | |
Bluetooth: SCO: Fix UAF on sco_conn_free | No | No | 5.5 | |
Bluetooth: MGMT: cancel mesh send timer when hdev removed | No | No | 5.5 | |
Bluetooth: MGMT: Fix OOB access in parse_adv_monitor_pattern() | No | No | 5.5 | |
Bluetooth: 6lowpan: reset link-local header on ipv6 recv path | No | No | 5.5 | |
ALSA: usb-audio: Fix NULL pointer dereference in snd_usb_mixer_controls_badd | No | No | 5.5 | |
drm/amdgpu: Fix NULL pointer dereference in VRAM logic for APU devices | No | No | 4.7 | |
ALSA: usb-audio: Fix potential overflow of PCM transfer buffer | No | No | 4.3 | |
mm/damon/vaddr: do not repeat pte_offset_map_lock() until success | No | No | 4.1 | |
Improper validation of tag size in Text component parser | No | No | N/A |
Open Source Software Mariner vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
Excessive resource consumption when printing error string for host certificate validation in crypto/x509 | No | No | 7.5 | |
LIBPNG has an out-of-bounds read in png_image_read_composite | No | No | 7.1 | |
Improper application of excluded DNS name constraints when verifying wildcard names in crypto/x509 | No | No | 6.5 | |
A denial-of-service vulnerability exists in github.com/sirupsen/logrus when using Entry.Writer() to log a single-line payload larger than 64KB without newline characters. | No | No | 5.9 | |
Quadratic complexity in node ID cache clearing | No | No | N/A | |
Out-of-memory when loading Plist | No | No | N/A | |
KissFFT Integer Overflow Heap Buffer Overflow via kiss_fft_alloc | No | No | N/A | |
Excessive read buffering DoS in http.client | No | No | N/A |
Other vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
GitHub Copilot for Jetbrains Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | Yes | 8.4 |
Server Software ESU vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
Microsoft Exchange Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.5 | |
Microsoft Exchange Server Spoofing Vulnerability | No | No | 5.3 |
Windows vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
Windows Resilient File System (ReFS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 8.8 | |
Windows Storage VSP Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Storage VSP Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Storage VSP Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Shell Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Projected File System Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Projected File System Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Projected File System Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Projected File System Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Projected File System Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows DWM Core Library Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows DWM Core Library Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Yes | No | 7.8 | |
Application Information Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows File Explorer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.5 | |
Windows File Explorer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.3 | |
Windows Camera Frame Server Monitor Information Disclosure Vulnerability | No | No | 7.1 | |
Microsoft Brokering File System Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7 | |
Microsoft Brokering File System Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7 | |
DirectX Graphics Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7 | |
Windows DirectX Information Disclosure Vulnerability | No | No | 6.5 | |
DirectX Graphics Kernel Denial of Service Vulnerability | No | No | 6.5 | |
DirectX Graphics Kernel Denial of Service Vulnerability | No | No | 6.5 | |
Windows Defender Firewall Service Information Disclosure Vulnerability | No | No | 4.4 |
Windows ESU vulnerabilities
CVE | Title | Exploited? | Publicly disclosed? | CVSSv3 base score |
Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 8.8 | |
Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | No | 8.8 | |
Windows Remote Access Connection Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Remote Access Connection Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Installer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Common Log File System Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Client-Side Caching Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
PowerShell Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | No | Yes | 7.8 | |
Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | No | No | 7.8 | |
Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) Information Disclosure Vulnerability | No | No | 6.5 | |
Windows Hyper-V Denial of Service Vulnerability | No | No | 5.3 |
Patch Tuesday - December 2025
Source: Rapid7
Source Link: https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/em-patch-tuesday-december-2025